Cuisine comfort

Cuisine comfort

Rattama Pongponrat explores food and culture through friends

SOCIAL & LIFESTYLE
Cuisine comfort

Listening to Rattama Pongponrat talk about food can almost make your mouth water. The 36-year-old gastronomic director of Minibar Royale, food consultant, and author of Im Ook Im Jai Comfort Diary: Delicious Recipes Of Family And Friends retells food stories with intense passion, vivid comparisons and a glint in her eye. Not only can you detect her love for food through countless stories, you can actually taste such deep love in every single one of her dishes which hold warmth, balanced ingredients and hidden details.

Im Ook Im Jai Comfort Diary: Delicious Recipes Of Family And Friends is Rattama’s first cookbook, but it just doesn’t recount recipes. Besides her amazing family recipes, Rattama also hand-picks friends of hers that she considers true foodies to trace back the memories of their upbringing and roots through their choice of recipes. With an impressive list of friends, Rattama manages to include the likes of Moderndog’s Thanachai Ujjin, DJ Maft Sai and Pol Lt Col Narabodi Sasiprapa.

French and English educated, Rattama found her affection for food at a young age. After graduating with a master’s degree in urban planning from London School of Economics, Rattama moved back to Thailand to join Mass Rapid Transport Authority of Thailand, and later the Museum of Siam while accepting conceptual catering jobs because she is passionate about it. Then her true calling beckoned and the urge became too hard to resist — she finally decided to devote herself ful-time to food.

Rattama is open to all food-related discussions at www.facebook.com/thecomfortdiary.

What inspired you to write this book?

My style of cooking and my preference have always leaned towards comfort food. I like to cook for friends and family. Minibar Royale’s main theme is also comfort food, so I think it really relates to everything I stand for in terms of the gastronomic journey. On one level, I’d like to capture the essence of my friends through their food that they’ve been brought up with. On another, I wanted to examine diverse ethnicities that make up the whole of Thailand through different kitchens.

Why did you pick these individuals to feature in your book?

Im Ook Im Jai Comfort Diary: Delicious Recipes Of Family And Friends.

Some people say I’ve just picked my celebrity friends, but that’s not the case. Thailand is driven by celebrity culture; that much is true. But I know these people very well. I grew up with some of them, and I know that they are hardcore foodies like myself, and I know that they can cook. I just wondered what they ate growing up that helped them fall in love with food. It’s also interesting to take a closer look at their household cultures.

They also have different ancestry backgrounds, so it is interesting to see how that comes to play in their eating habits. They retell their personal history through food.

What is Thai comfort food?

I believe that Thailand is made up by various cultures. We are very diverse, and the chosen individuals represent that. Some of them are interracial, while some have Chinese ancestors or grew up in a royal household. I think food choices construct cultural identities. Each of them was asked to come up with two dishes: what comforts them, and what they cook to comfort their loved ones. I’ve discovered that there are always links between the two menus. It’s like passing on the love given to them.

What is comfort food to you?

Comfort food strongly relates to emotions and memories. I don’t know if it’s the same for others, but I also get cravings when I am under stress, or when I’m very happy. Then I want food that fulfils me or celebrates with me emotionally.

Marcel Proust talks about involuntarily memory, and I think food does that to you. I can recall my childhood in detail when I taste certain kinds of food. I instantly remember my stockings and my ballet classes when I eat a certain tuna salad.

I think comfort food helps you feel good about yourself, and helps you go on living.

You previous jobs didn’t really have anything to do with food. Why did you decide to switch your career?

As you get older, you should narrow your interests. Most of my friends have been doing what they love, what they’re passionate about, and I really envied them. I never had that chance, so I was cooking on the side instead.

Then a friend told me that I should not pay attention to anything but food and cooking because he could see that is where my heart lies. It has always been my main topic of conversation, and it’s always been my signature, I guess.

How did you start cooking?

I wanted to do it myself at home. I wanted to cook for friends. My family also loves eating. We even have fixed menus for special occasions. Also when I was a kid, my nanny never allowed me to play outside, so we played cooking, but for real.

What does cooking mean to you?

Sharing. It’s always about wanting my friends to taste what I taste, and I know exactly what would taste good to them. Cooking also triggers that need to please, to take care of people. Cooking and food also mean more than taking pictures and posting them on Instagram — they have cultural contexts.

You didn’t just take recipes from the chosen individuals, but you actually went to cook with them. What did you learn from the experience?

Each household has different perceptions about food. They all have personalised tips that I find amazing. Trained chefs might frown upon those tips, but to me; there’s no right or wrong in cooking.

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